My name is Takami Kawai and I'm a traditional Japanese carpenter and architect with over 16 years of experience in sustainable design and construction. As much as conditions allow, I enjoy using traditional Japanese techniques. My experience includes working for the world renown, Ise Jingu Grand Shrine. I have also hosted numerous presentations on traditional Japanese woodworking. Now, I run a small construction firm, Suikoushya, which specializes in the restoration of traditional Japanese houses.
A steam box and a heat source are the two main components used to steam bend wood. Steam boxes must be able to withstand large fluctuations in temperature and humidity without breaking apart. In this two-hour workshop, students will build an optimized steam box that can last through the tough job of steaming wood, allowing them to continue creating their own projects at home!
For the router you'll need a a 3/8" straight bit, an edge guide, 1/4"- and 1/8"-radius roundover bits, and a flush-trim bit with at least a 1-1/2" cutting length. Bits of this size are available only for a 1/2" collet. Some routers are capable of using multiple collet sizes. I was fool enough to buy a router that only had a 1/4" collet. More on that, later.
Still, one of the best features about this woodworking bench has to be its vices. First off, the Sjobergs provides two vices both as sturdily constructed as the bench itself. The same hardware that fastens the bench works to ensure the vices are just as strong. The next main benefit on the vices in the inclusion of multiple positions – four in total – for the vices to go. This allows you to mix and match to suit your needs and allows the table to be used just as easily by right-handed and left-handed users.
If you bought this superb polished table in a store, it would cost you a fortune, but our detailed instructions will help you make one for less than $100. And it looks like highly polished stone, but no-one would know it’s actually made from concrete with a wooden base. Also, you can embellish the top with leaf prints, like the table shown here, or personalize it with glass or mosaic tiles or imprints of seashells.

Quality is what we do, YOU will do it too, from day one. We will teach you all stages from choosing hand tools, to picking out wood, to developing your drawings, and building a portfolio of work. There are lots of workshop schools, courses, and magazines that are great for showing you an amateur way of getting a good result. An amateur has no excuse for poor work other than lack of understanding, the amateur has all day to get it right, the professional has not. They must do it right, first time, every day.

An excellent introduction to woodworking is to use crates as your main material. The boxes are already formed, which means less assembly work for you—yet it looks impressive once your project is altogether. With this crate coffee table, you still get to practice your skills adding the casters and the center box. Finish with a little stain, and this table is ready to roll. You can find the full tutorial at DIY Vintage Chic.

Linseed oil sitting in a bowl, or spread on the surface of wood, is perfectly safe. But a linseed oil soaked rag provides a vastly increase surface area, so the oxidation happens faster, and the rag can provide insulation, trapping the heat. The increased temperature speeds up the oxidation even more, which raises the temperature even more, and the runaway feedback can quickly result in temperatures that will cause the rag to spontaneously burst into flame. This isn't one of those "do not drive car while sunscreen is in place" warnings. This is one of those "keep your finger off the trigger until you have the gun pointed at something you want to shoot" warnings. Rags soaked in linseed oil will catch fire, if you don't handle them properly, and they can do so far more quickly than you might think.

1. In this post, you kindly remind us not to make it too deep or worry too much about the height. I presume you still believe a bench cannot be too long or too heavy? I’m with you — just asking if that’s actually still your opinion, since the bench above appears to be yet another six footer. (If longer is better, why don’t you build an 8 or 10′ for your home shop?) TYIA – remember, I’ve bought all my lumber to start my new bench, but I haven’t milled anything yet, so you’re really helping in an immediate way here!

Learn to use hand and power tools to shape wood into objects that will last for decades. You’ll learn about the properties of lumber, safe tool use, measurement and layout, and fundamental woodworking joints. At the end of this week-long course, you’ll leave with an end-grain cutting board, a mitered corner box, and the skills to build an unlimited range of wooden objects.

Out of all the shed books I have read, this book stays by my side while I hammer in the yard. The book is well written by what appears to be a non professional book writer (A Good Thing). It reads as if you are getting advise in laymans terms from your neighbor "The Craftsman", a welcome change from the DIY books, that assume a level of expertese. The level of detail is high and discusses gotcha's, advise, and trade "secrets" that could have only come from years of personal experience building sheds.